Loom

ABSTRACT

A loom system, comprises a basic machine a heald loom, or a Jacquard machine, whereby the basic machine is coupled with the heald loom or with the Jacquard machine. The heald loom or the Jacquard machine are driven by a direct drive.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the US National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2005/054503, filed Sep. 9, 2005 and claims the benefit thereof. The International Application claims the benefits of German application No. 10 2004 045 208.3 DE filed Sep. 17, 2004, both of the applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a loom. The loom has, for example, a heald loom or a Jacquard machine.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Jacquard machines serve for generating any desired patterns in conjunction with looms or knitting machines. Heald looms serve for generating coarser patterns, particularly in conjunction with looms. The loom, in an advantageous embodiment, has a basic machine. By a basic machine being used, for example, a warp beam can be exchanged. The Jacquard machine or the heald loom, which may also have a separate main shaft, has hitherto been drivable by means of a cardan shaft by a basic machine or by means of a specific drive having a gear. For synchronism with the basic machine or the loom, the heald loom or Jacquard machine is connected directly or via gears or via electronic synchronism to the main shaft of the loom. Electronic synchronism with respect to the main shaft corresponds in principle, for example, to an electronic king shaft in a printing machine. The term “king shaft” differs from the term “main shaft” merely in that the term “main shaft” is typically used in looms and the term “king shaft” in printing machines. Technical functioning is identical. Like the electronic king shaft, the electronic main shaft serves for bringing about a synchronized movement. The cardan shaft and the gear are costly and subject to wear. A further disadvantage is that both a cardan shaft and a gear to a considerable extent demand replacement and are therefore unsuitable for a compact type of construction, since their exchange becomes complicated. A further disadvantage of the prior art is afforded in that the Jacquard machine or the heald loom runs synchronously with the loom. Consequently, a shed opening time is inversely proportional to the rotational speed of the main shaft of the loom and is therefore determined solely by this rotational speed. A defined shed opening angle is thus also predetermined.

A loom, in which a heald loom or a Jacquard machine has a separate motor for its drive, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,315, EP 0 743 383 A1, EP 1 445 364 A2 and JP-3249233.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages described above. In this case, it is advantageous to make a compact type of construction possible and to reduce the wear of the mechanical parts of the loom. Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to increase the shared opening time.

The object is achieved by means of a loom having the features as claimed in the independent claims. The subclaims are advantageous embodiments of the loom.

In a loom according to the invention, which has a heald loom or a Jacquard machine, the loom being coupled to the heald loom or the loom to the Jacquard machine by means of an electronic main shaft, the heald loom or the Jacquard machine has a direct drive. The heald loom or the Jacquard machine are thus driven directly. The heald loom or the Jacquard machine therefore has no gear. By a gear being dispensed with, costs can be saved and a compact type of construction becomes possible. Owing to the direct drive, it is possible to dispense with a gear. Consequently, costs can be saved and a compact type of construction becomes possible. A further advantage is that a gear is subject to wear, and this wear now no longer occurs. The operating time of the looms can thereby be increased. A hitherto conventional connection of the Jacquard machine via a cardan shaft to a main shaft of the loom is thus dispensed with. Achieving the synchronism of the loom or basic machine with the heald loom or Jacquard machine is ensured by means of an electronic main shaft. The electronic main shaft allows an electronic synchronism of drives both in the loom and in the heald loom or in the Jacquard machine.

In an advantageous embodiment, the direct drive is a torque motor. The torque motor can be fed by means of a power converter. By the torque motor being used as a drive of the Jacquard machine, it is no longer necessary to use a gear. The torque motor is coupled to a main shaft of the loom via a suitable control by means of an electronic cam disk. The electronic cam disk can be designed in such a way that a shared opening angle is greater, as compared with a design having a mechanical drive of the Jacquard machine or heald loom.

An increase in the shared opening angle also arises, as compared with a drive of the Jacquard machine or of the heald loom by means of a system with a gear and electric drive. By the shared opening angle being increased, an increase in the shared opening time is also possible. The loom can thus be designed in such a way that its capacity is increased. What is to be considered as regards the shared opening time is the relative shared opening time with respect to the time of a main shaft revolution. The absolute time for weft insertion cannot be reduced, as desired, since this is prevented by the inertia of the weft insertion means and the properties of the weft thread (for example, strength, inertia, roughness, etc.). In the case of a 1:1-coupled heald loom, the relative shared opening time is always the same, that is to say, with the increase in the main shaft rotational speed, the absolute shared opening time becomes increasingly lower. When the heald loom rotates more rapidly in the angular range in which the shared is changed and rotates more slowly in the shared open region, then the relative shared opening time is increased, so that the critical minimum weft insertion time is consequently reached only at a higher rotational speed of the main shaft. Since, in this method, the warp threads are also subjected to greater load due to the more rapid shared change, the parameters relating to the method must be optimized.

Due to the increase in the shared opening time, the operating speed of the loom can be increased, so that the latter operates more effectively. This improvement is co-founded on the dispensing of the gear as mechanical means for converting a rotational speed. To increase the shared opening time, a corresponding adapted electronic cam disk is advantageously stored in the control of the loom and/or in the control of the Jacquard machine and/or in the control of the heald loom. Either the control of the loom is separate from the controls of the Jacquard machine or of the heald loom or the controls are integrated in one apparatus. The control of the direct drive takes place, for example, by means of the control of the loom or of the Jacquard machine of the heald loom. The term “control” in this context covers both control and regulation tasks.

By the gear being dispensed with, the mass inertia of the mechanical system of the Jacquard machine or of the heald loom is also reduced. A smaller drive for driving the Jacquard machine or the heald loom can therefore be used. The reduction in mass inertia may also be utilized to ensure that more rapid acceleration values can be achieved by means of the existing drive.

In an advantageous embodiment of the loom, the shared opening angle of the heald loom or of the Jacquard machine can be influenced by means of an electronic cam disk. Owing to this capability of exerting influence, it is also possible to influence the shared opening time, that is to say, in particular, advantageously increase it. Thus, in a method for operating a loom according to the invention, influence on the shared opening time is achieved by means of the electronic cam disk for the direct drive in the heald loom or the Jacquard machine.

This is also possible because, according to the invention, the drive of the heald loom or of the Jacquard machine in this case takes place by means of a direct drive, and the direct drive is controlled or regulated via an electronic cam disk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and details may be gathered from the following description of exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the drawings in which, in basic illustration,

FIG. 1 shows a loom,

FIG. 2 shows fabric,

FIG. 3 shows a curve profile of a shed opening angle,

FIG. 4 shows a first loom according to the prior art,

FIG. 5 shows a second loom according to the prior art, and

FIG. 6 shows a loom according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The illustration according to FIG. 1 shows a loom 1. The loom 1 has a heald loom 7. The heald loom 7 is provided for the movement of heald frames 5, the heald loom being activated in turn by means of signals. The heald frames 5 belong to the loom. The heald loom 7 is connected on the drive side in rotation to the main shaft of the loom, and the heald loom is connected on the output side in translation to the individual heald frames. Which heald frame has to be raised or lowered during the current revolution of the loom and heald loom is predetermined electrically for the heald loom by activation.

Furthermore, the loom has an operating device 9, a control 11, a reed 17 and a cloth beam 15 for batching up woven cloth 13. A shed 3 is formed by the warp threads deflected by the heald frames.

The illustration according to FIG. 2 shows a shed opening angle α23. The shed opening angle 23 occurs due to the angle of tentered warp threads 41. In a Jacquard machine, all the warp threads can be raised or lowered individually. Raising and lowering are controlled by means of a control. When a heald loom which moves the heald frames is used, the heald frames serve for tentering the shed. For simple fabrics, for example, only two heald frames are used, while a plurality of heald frames can be used for higher-grade fabrics. A plurality of warp threads are grouped in a heald frame. The heald frames are moved alternately upward and downward, with the result that shed opening occurs. The shed opening is synchronized with the weaving process. According to the prior art, synchronization took place by means of direct coupling to the main shaft of the loom and is in this case often implemented by means of an electronic main shaft. Synchronization takes place, in the case of an electronic main shaft, by means of a bus system.

For large and complex patterns, a Jacquard machine is required instead of the heald loom. Neither of the two machines is illustrated in FIG. 2. A jacquard selection unit, which is mounted on a carrying stand, raises individual warp threads selectively via harness cords and consequently allows more flexible shedding and consequently weave pattern formation. The Jacquard machine has, for example, a specific control/regulation which is data-coupled to the actual loom control for the purpose of data exchange.

The illustration according to FIG. 3 shows a graph with two curve profiles, the time t being plotted on one axis and the shed opening angle 23 being plotted on the other axis. The profile of the shed opening angle 23 is plotted in a first curve 45. A shed opening time 26 occurs in a bandwidth 49 of the shed opening angle 23. In a loom according to the invention, a profile according to the curve 47 can be generated. This profile results in a greater shed opening time 28.

The illustration according to FIG. 4 shows a loom 2 according to the prior art. The loom 2 is coupled to a heald loom 7. Coupling takes place directly or via a gear to the main shaft of the loom and mechanical couplings 39. Gears 35 also serve for coupling. In the illustration according to FIG. 4, the loom 2 is depicted separately from the heald loom 7. The term “loom 2”, however, may also be interpreted to the effect that this loom also has a heald loom 7. The heald loom 7 is thus part of the loom 2. This interpretation also applies according to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The illustration according to FIG. 5 shows a loom 2 which is coupled to a heald loom 7. Coupling takes place by means of a databus 33. The databus 33 is connected here to a control 11. The control 11 serves for controlling the heald loom 7. The control 11 takes place by means of a drive 53 which is coupled to the heald loom 7 via the gear 35. For the design of the electronic main shaft, a transducer 29 for measuring the rotational speed of the loom 2 is necessary.

The illustration according to FIG. 6 shows a loom 1 according to the invention. The loom 1 has an electronic main shaft. A direct drive 51 can be activated by means of a control 11 of the heald loom and a databus 33. The direct drive 51 serves for driving the heald loom 7. The loom 1 may also be designed, for example, with a Jacquard machine 8. The heald loom and the Jacquard machine can be designed in such a way that the loom 1 has a heald loom or a Jacquard machine. In FIG. 6, however, this is illustrated merely implicitly by a broken line. 

1.-5. (canceled)
 6. A loom system comprising: a heald loom; a basic machine coupled to the heald loom based upon a main shaft; and a direct drive to drive the heald loom gearlessly.
 7. The loom system claimed in claim 6, wherein the main shaft is an electronic main shaft, wherein drives in the loom system are electronically synchronized.
 8. The loom system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the direct drive is a torque motor.
 9. The loom system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the direct drive is controlled by a control system.
 10. The loom system as claimed in claim 9, wherein a shed opening angle of the heald loom is influenced based upon an electronic cam disk.
 11. The loom system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the shed opening time is increased by increasing the opening angle.
 12. A loom system comprising: a Jacquard machine; a basic machine coupled to the Jacquard machine based upon a main shaft; and a direct drive to drive the Jacquard machine gearlessly.
 13. The loom system claimed in claim 12, wherein the main shaft is an electronic main shaft, wherein drives in the loom system are electronically synchronized.
 14. The loom system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the direct drive is a torque motor.
 15. The loom system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the direct drive is controlled by a control system.
 16. The loom system as claimed in claim 15, wherein a shed opening angle of the Jacquard machine is influenced based upon an electronic cam disk.
 17. The loom system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the shed opening time is increased by increasing the opening angle. 